Doubleday Round: Frick League
Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:13 am
A few days back I saw this great video from a16z in which a young reporter had a discussion with Waymo’s CPO while traveling through San Francisco in one of Waymo’s self-driving cars. I thought it was fantastic. In a single hour you got a lot of information about the basic state of the automated car (at long last, it’s basically here now), and at the same time watch it actually work. Nothing will ever be perfect, but sign me up. Imagine all the TN I can write if I don't have to freaking drive to the grocery every time I want to eat.
What was odd about that conversation, though, was how tone-deaf the discussion was.
For example, it never once mentioned the BBA.
Go figure.
Anyway, the Doubleday round is here, and the matchups deserved a little test drive. So here we go.
TWIN CITIES vs. DES MOINES
The River Monsters took their series from Omaha in four games, the last being powered by a late-inning homer from David Simpson—who apparently took rumors of his decline personal. Second baseman Roberto Rivera had two hits in three of the games, and was named the series MVP. Now they travel to Des Moines to take on the Heartland division winner in what should be a true barnburner.
I say that because Twin Cities is sneaky good. They led the league in the base on ball this year—and that’s a sneaky-good stat because even today it’s not a big sexy thing like a ringing double or a towering homer, and it doesn’t endear raging screams from the crowd like a big K in a tough spot. In that light, though, they also out-doubled the Kernels, and out-tripled them. In other words, both teams can do it all, but they differentiate themselves along those lines: Des Moines did 82 more homers than Twin Cities, but the River Monsters win with more walks and extra base hits.
On the hill, these two teams are literally impossible to tell apart. Here, for example, are some ranks. You tell me which team is better?
You can see why I say barn burner?
That said, Des Moines took nine of fourteen from the River Monsters in the regular season, so that’s suggesting maybe the homers beat the walks and extra bases. Sounds good to me…
Des Moines in six.
NASHVILLE vs. SACRAMENTO
It took five games and a little extra cooking of the books for Nashville to make it past Hawaii. Afterward, astute followers noted that the balls and strikes seemed to come at different rates for the two teams, and that while Nashville hitters struck out 5 times and walked 5 times, Tropics struck out 11 and walked not even once.
“Something was clearly wrong,” said Jim Kasab, a broadcaster for TinHat Vod, a VR haunt that does expose journalism. “But no one seemed to care.”
Regardless, Nashville progressed and Hawaii went home to count their five games worth of coconuts. Now comes this: Mad Popes and Bluebirds.
On the face of it, the Bluebirds should be favored. They beat the M'opes (which I suddenly kind of like) in six of their eight matches this past year, outscoring them 39-26, better than 1.5 runs/game. And, though perhaps not wise or wealthy (at least on the public books), the Bluebird roster is at least healthy. They will bring the full weight of their stench to bear on this seven game series—and really the only thing that could give M'ope fans (yes, I do kinda like that “Mope” thing even more now) any solace is that at least home field advantage means their guys aren’t going to have to play a majority of their games in the caustic environment that is Nashville.
Aside: The Bluebirds are the only team in the league that is required to have bottles of local air shipped with them on road trips so that their players to avoid getting withdrawal symptoms as they breath clean air.
Bottom line: the Nashville offense is filled with mashers like Juan Rivera, Filipe Vega, and Helmut Grün, while the M'opes have literally no one with that class of power. As baseball pundits say, don't bring the wish for a HBP to a Home Run Derby. And while the Sacramento pitchers takes second seat to no one, the Bluebirds staff is easily top four in the Frick League.
In addition to all these facts listed above, the club from Sacramento is down a man after second baseman Dallas Dixon bent the knee the wrong way, and will be lost for the postseason (barring some medical miracle that the mysterious green-eyed trainer has been assigned to). Dixon may not be a future Hall of Famer, but he’s a solid two or three WAR player, and on this offense that kind of guy is hard to replace.
So, yeah. This one should go to the Bluebirds, and it shouldn’t be that close.
All is not lost, though. There does exist hope.
And that hope comes in the form of the last four games that these two teams played. Sure, they lost three of the four—in Nashville. But they lost by only a combined five runs. Considerably less than the first four.
That’s progress, right?
And progress is linear!
Ok. Maybe not.
This is Ron Collins we’re talking about, right? You really can’t seriously expect the M'opes to come out of this one alive.
Nashville in five.
What was odd about that conversation, though, was how tone-deaf the discussion was.
For example, it never once mentioned the BBA.
Go figure.
Anyway, the Doubleday round is here, and the matchups deserved a little test drive. So here we go.
TWIN CITIES vs. DES MOINES
The River Monsters took their series from Omaha in four games, the last being powered by a late-inning homer from David Simpson—who apparently took rumors of his decline personal. Second baseman Roberto Rivera had two hits in three of the games, and was named the series MVP. Now they travel to Des Moines to take on the Heartland division winner in what should be a true barnburner.
I say that because Twin Cities is sneaky good. They led the league in the base on ball this year—and that’s a sneaky-good stat because even today it’s not a big sexy thing like a ringing double or a towering homer, and it doesn’t endear raging screams from the crowd like a big K in a tough spot. In that light, though, they also out-doubled the Kernels, and out-tripled them. In other words, both teams can do it all, but they differentiate themselves along those lines: Des Moines did 82 more homers than Twin Cities, but the River Monsters win with more walks and extra base hits.
On the hill, these two teams are literally impossible to tell apart. Here, for example, are some ranks. You tell me which team is better?
| Team 1 | Team 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Earned Run Average | 3.51 - 3rd in FL | 3.47 - 2nd in FL |
| Starters' ERA | 3.41 - 1st in FL | 3.89 - 5th in FL |
| Bullpen ERA | 3.65 - 5th in FL | 2.79 - 2nd in FL |
| Runs allowed | 598 - 2nd in FL | 599 - 3rd in FL |
| Hits allowed | 1358 - 5th in FL | 1345 - 4th in FL |
| Opponents AVG | .248 - 6th in FL | .243 - 4th in FL |
| BABIP | .282 - 8th in FL | .270 - 2nd in FL |
| Home Runs allowed | 152 - 4th in FL | 151 - 3rd in FL |
| Bases On Balls | 455 - 4th in FL | 443 - 3rd in FL |
| Strikeouts | 1096 - 5th in FL | 997 - 13th in FL |
You can see why I say barn burner?
That said, Des Moines took nine of fourteen from the River Monsters in the regular season, so that’s suggesting maybe the homers beat the walks and extra bases. Sounds good to me…
Des Moines in six.
NASHVILLE vs. SACRAMENTO
It took five games and a little extra cooking of the books for Nashville to make it past Hawaii. Afterward, astute followers noted that the balls and strikes seemed to come at different rates for the two teams, and that while Nashville hitters struck out 5 times and walked 5 times, Tropics struck out 11 and walked not even once.
“Something was clearly wrong,” said Jim Kasab, a broadcaster for TinHat Vod, a VR haunt that does expose journalism. “But no one seemed to care.”
Regardless, Nashville progressed and Hawaii went home to count their five games worth of coconuts. Now comes this: Mad Popes and Bluebirds.
On the face of it, the Bluebirds should be favored. They beat the M'opes (which I suddenly kind of like) in six of their eight matches this past year, outscoring them 39-26, better than 1.5 runs/game. And, though perhaps not wise or wealthy (at least on the public books), the Bluebird roster is at least healthy. They will bring the full weight of their stench to bear on this seven game series—and really the only thing that could give M'ope fans (yes, I do kinda like that “Mope” thing even more now) any solace is that at least home field advantage means their guys aren’t going to have to play a majority of their games in the caustic environment that is Nashville.
Aside: The Bluebirds are the only team in the league that is required to have bottles of local air shipped with them on road trips so that their players to avoid getting withdrawal symptoms as they breath clean air.
Bottom line: the Nashville offense is filled with mashers like Juan Rivera, Filipe Vega, and Helmut Grün, while the M'opes have literally no one with that class of power. As baseball pundits say, don't bring the wish for a HBP to a Home Run Derby. And while the Sacramento pitchers takes second seat to no one, the Bluebirds staff is easily top four in the Frick League.
In addition to all these facts listed above, the club from Sacramento is down a man after second baseman Dallas Dixon bent the knee the wrong way, and will be lost for the postseason (barring some medical miracle that the mysterious green-eyed trainer has been assigned to). Dixon may not be a future Hall of Famer, but he’s a solid two or three WAR player, and on this offense that kind of guy is hard to replace.
So, yeah. This one should go to the Bluebirds, and it shouldn’t be that close.
All is not lost, though. There does exist hope.
And that hope comes in the form of the last four games that these two teams played. Sure, they lost three of the four—in Nashville. But they lost by only a combined five runs. Considerably less than the first four.
That’s progress, right?
And progress is linear!
Ok. Maybe not.
This is Ron Collins we’re talking about, right? You really can’t seriously expect the M'opes to come out of this one alive.
Nashville in five.